Academic scientific knowledge and Indigenous worldviews

Discourse integration for sustainable development

Bibliographic Data

ID12814784
AuthorsSeth A Agbo (0000-0002-3257-5111, Lakehead University, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume19
Issue1
Pages57-69
Publication date2023-08-13
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueDiaspora Indigenous and Minority Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1559-5692 • E-ISSN: 1559-5706
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/15595692.2023.2246609
OpenAlexW4385808273
LanguageEN
References cited32

How far has sustainable development that has dominated the agendas of politicians, academics, and world organizations for the past four decades gone? Do politicians, academics, and organizations have to look elsewhere for solutions? This article attempts to answer the second question: There may be solutions other than politics and the academy to promulgate sustainable development. The article argues that Indigenous knowledge is a fundamental domain in selecting the criteria for sustainable development and the design of corresponding goals for sustainability in the global economy. In this theoretical article, the intellectual traditions of the academy that emphasize academic detachment and objectivity are on the attack as representing thought that has invented Indigenous worldviews as the "other" because they provide a context with meaning and values considered unscholarly pursuits. The article examines how the academy can graft Indigenous worldviews and cultural ideas onto academic knowledge and technology in a way that considers Indigenous knowledge critical in creating knowledge for sustainable development. The discussion debunks Eurocentric objective traditions that solely set agendas for sustainability. This article calls for the academy to create a model that places Indigenous knowledge in a conspicuous place in the scholarly agendas of sustainable development. The article develops a collaborative model for the academy and indigenous worldviews. It concludes that Indigenous knowledge and academic traditions can collaboratively support policy actors such as world governments and politicians to find solutions for sustainable development. AcknowledgmentsI wish to acknowledge the Indigenous people that have helped me to think differently about what really constitutes knowledge.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Additional informationNotes on contributorsSeth A. AgboSeth A. Agbo is associate professor of sociocultural foundations of education and comparative and international education at Lakehead University in Canada. He holds a PhD from the University of British Columbia. Prior to his present position, Dr. Agbo taught at the State University of New York at Potsdam and Pacific University in Oregon. He is a visiting professor at Liverpool John Moores University in England and the University of Glasgow in Scotland. His current research interests include globalization and Indigenous knowledge systems, comparative and international education, and leadership and policy studies. He is Co-Editor for the Pedagogical Perspectives Journal. He serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Adult and Continuing Education and the Journal of American Indian Education, and a Consulting Editor for the Canadian Journal of Education

Context (archaeology · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Indigenous · Objectivity (philosophy · Political science · Social science · Sociology · Sustainability · Sustainable development · Traditional knowledge · Global Education and Multiculturalism · Global Educational Policies and Reforms · Law · Service-Learning and Community Engagement

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